Corrosion inhibitor



Dec. 7, 1943 A. P. AYERS, JR

CORROSION INHIBITOR Filed Dec. 19, 1959' INVENTOR I ATTORNEY PatentedDec. 7, 1943 CORROSION INHIBITOR Allan P. Ayers, Jr., Manchester, Conn.,assignor to United Aircraft Corporation, East Hartford, Conn., acorporation of Delaware Application December 19, 1939, Serial No.310,003

Claims. (Cl. 123-198) This invention relates to improvements incorrosion preventing, desiccating means and has particular reference toimproved means for preventing-corrosion in the interior portions ofinternal-combustion engines while such engines are in storage or intransportation.

An object of the invention resides in the provision of improveddesiccating means of the character indicated constructed in units whichmay be readily applied to an'engine while it is being prepared forstorage or transportation.

A further object resides in the provision of a dehydrating ordesiccating unit containing a noncorrosive moisture absorbing materialin a container so constructed as to provide adequate contact of themoisture absorbing material'with the air inside the engine.

A more specific object resides in the provision of corrosion preventingunits of the character indicated which may be inserted in and secured inthe spark plug apertures of an intemal-combustion engine and which, whenso inserted and secured, will remove the moisture from the air withinthe engine cylinders.

Other objects and advantages will be more particularly pointed outhereinafter or will become apparent as the description proceeds.

In the accompanying drawing, in which like reference numerals are usedto designate similar parts throughout, there is illustrated, in threesomewhat modified forms, a suitable dehydrating or desiccating unit forthe purpose specified, and the manner in which the 'units are applied toan engine. The drawing, however, is for purposes of illustration onlyand is not to be taken as limiting the invention as it willbe apparentto those skilled in' the art that various changes in the illustratedconstructions may be resorted to without in any way exceeding the scopeof. the inven-- tion.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a schematic elevational view of an internal-combustion engine"showing corrosion preventing desiccating units constructed according tothe invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a partly sectional view of one form of improved desiccatingunit.

Fig. 3 is a partly sectional view of a' somewhat modified form ofdesiccating unit.

Fig. 4 is a partly sectional view of a still further modified form ofdesiccating unit, and

Fig. 5 is a partly sectional view of an engine cylinder head showing anexhaust valve port and the application thereto of a port closure member.

I0 generally indicates the engine crankcase to which are attached a.plurality of cylinders, one of which is indicated at l2. Attached to thecrankcase I0 is an air induction system l4 having an intake air inletl6, Each cylinder is provided with intake and exhaust valves asindicated at I8 and I9. Suitable valve operating mechanisms which may beenclosed in housings, such as is indicated at 20 and 2|, and in tubes,as indi-- cated at 22. The intake valves are connected with the airinduction system by suitable intake manifolds, as indicated at 24, andthe exhaust valves when the engine is prepared for operation areconnected with exhaust stacks or an exhaust collector ring, notillustrated. For shipping or storage purposes, however, the exhaustports, one of which is indicated at 25 in Fig. 5, are normally tightlysealed usually by fiat plates such as is illustrated in Fig. 5 andindicated at 21. Each cylinder is provided in the head portion thereofwith one or more internally threaded spark plug apertures, as indicatedat 26. While a particular engine construction has been schematicallyillustrated in Fig. 1 it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited in its application to any special form of engine.

When an engine is prepared for storage it is customary to seal all ofthe openings leading to the cylinder exhaust ports, and other openingsinto the crankcase with suitable caps or plugs. This preparationprovides within the engine a relatively large closed chamber within thecrank case and air induction system, and a relatively small closedchamber in each cylinder between the cylinder head and the includedpiston.

It is probable that one or more of the engine intake valves will be openwhen the engine is prepared for shipment or storage, thus connecting theinterior of a cylinder with the induction system including the pipes 24and chamber I6. In order to prevent moist air from entering the cylinderfrom that source a mass of moisture absorbingmaterial, as indicated at32, may be secured to the inner surface of the cover plate 28 to extractmoisture from the air in the air induction system. Specially constructedunits, as generally indicated at 34, may be inserted in the cylinderspark plug apertures to extract the moisture from the air in the variouscylinder chamslot 40. A suitable perforate cylindrical member 42, whichmay be formed of a suitable wire mesh is provided with end caps 44 and46 and contains a mass of desiccative material 48'. While variousabsorbing materials could be used in the unit, a material known asSilica Gel has been found particularly advantageous for this purposesince it absorbs a proportionately large amount of moisture from theatmosphere and unlike some daiccative salts, does not give off any fumesor gases or go into solution with the water and tend to drip on thesurfaces of the chamber which the unit is designed to protect.Commontable salt, although capable of absorbing moisture from theatmosphere, possesses some of the above-mentioned undesirable qualities,and would not, therefore, be as desirable as Silica Gel and might eveninvite corrosion instead of preventing it. One of the end cap members,for example the member 46 is provided with a screw threaded portion 50which is threaded into the interior of the hollow shank 38 to secure thedesiccating material container to the cap. When the unit is screwthreaded into the spark plug aperture it makes an air tight seal withthe aperture and the porous container for the desiccating material isprojected into the chamber to bring the material into intimate contactwith the air in the chamber so that moisture in the air will be taken upby the desiccating material. If the cylinder is provided with more thanone spark plug aperture 8. separate unit may be threaded into eachaperture to provide an adequate drying capacity for the air in thecylinder enclosed space.

One prevalant source of corrosion has been found to be the lead depositsin the cylinders in cases where the engine has been in operation withleaded gasoline before being prepared for storage. This type ofcorrosion, however, can also be inhibited by maintaining the airenclosed in the engine cylinders in a dry condition. Since the moistureabsorbing material may be reactivated by the simple process'of drying itin a suitable oven, the units may be made very strong and substantial sothat they can be used many times and in many difierent engines so longas the engines are all provided with similar spark plug apertures. Anumber of units may be kept on hand at the place where the engines areprepared for stora e or shipment and may be kept in proper condition bykeeping them in a desiccating oven or in air tight containers which alsocontain an excess amount of desiccating material.

The unit illustrated in Fig 3 has a cap similar to that of the unitshown in Fig. 2 having a circular head portion 36, a screw threadedshank portion 36 and a tool slot 40. The cap shown in Fig. 3 differsfrom that shown in Fig. 2 in one detail, in that, instead of the shankportion being made hollow, it is provided with a relatively smallinternally screw threaded well 52 which receives the screw threaded endof a bolt 54. A perforated in other crankcase chambers if founddesirable.

cylindrical member 56, which may be formed of .some suitablethermoplastic material such as a resinous condensate serves as thecontainer for the moisture absorbing material'and is clamped by the bolt54 between the shank end of the cap and an end closure plate 58 againstwhich the head of the bolt bears. The perforations may be provided inany one of various desired forms, elongated slots 60 running lengthwiseof the cylindrical member 56 being shown in the drawing for purposes ofillustration.

In the'form of the unit shown in Fig. 4 the entire cap portion includingthe head 36 and shank 38 is made cylindrical and provided with aninternal annular shoulder 62 and internal screw threads 64 extendingfrom the shoulder to the outer open end of the head portion 36. Thematerial container 66 is in the form of a molded closed and the oppositeend provided with an external annular flange 68 adapted to overlie theshoulder 62. This container is filled with a suitable desiccatingmaterial, such as Silica Gel, 10, and is perforated by suitableopenings, such as the circumferential slots 12. A disc 74 of materialsimilar to the material of the container 66 overlies the open end of thecontainer and rests at its outer circumferential portion on the flange68, and a plug I5 is screw'threaded into the open end of the headportion 36 to retain the container and disc in the cap and hold the discin firm contact with the end of the,container. This plug 15 may beprovided with a tool slot 16 for inserting the plug in the cap and slots[8 may be provided in the cap for inserting the unit in a'spark plugaperture.

The containers 56 and 66, shown in Figs. 5 and 4 are preferably made ofa transparent material, and may contain Silica Gel having an indicatingsubstance therein which changes color as the Silica Gel absorbsmoisture.- It may then be determined by inspection whether thedesiccating material is in a dry state and suitable to be placed in theengine or whether the material already contains moisture and must,therefore, be dried before being used as a dehydrator. A visualinspection of the unit while still in the engine after it has been inthe engine for a period of time will be suflicient to determine whetheror not the unit should be replaced.

While a suitable mechanical arrangement of the invention has beenhereinabove described and illustrated in three somewhat modified forms,it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to theparticular forms so illustrated and described, but that such changes inthe size, shape and arrangements of the various parts and of thematerials thereof may be resorted to as come within the scope of thesub-joined claims. Having now described the'invention. so that othersskilled in the art may clearly understand the same, what it is desiredto secure by Letters Patent is as follows:

1. Means for preserving against corrosion an engine having cylindersprovided with valve ports and spark plug apertures, and a piston in eachcylinder closing the inner end thereof, said means comprising, memberssealing said valve ports, and desiccating units sealing said spark plugapertures and projecting into said cylinders to dry the air in thechambers between said pistons and the outer ends of the cylinders.

. 2. Means for preserving against internal corrosion an engine having acrankcase provided with an opening therein and cylinders having ports,and desiccating units sealing said spark plug apertures and projectingwithin said cylinders to dry the air in said cylinders.

3. Means for inhibiting internal corrosion in an engine having acylinder, an air induction system leading to an intake port to saidcylinder; an exhaust port for said cyiinder, and spark plug openings insaid cylinder, said means comprising, a closure for said inductionsystem, a mass of desiccative material secured in said induction systemin contact with the air in said system for drying the air in said systemand any cylinder connected therewith through said intake port, means forsealing said exhaust port, a mass of desiccative material secured insaid cylinder, and means for sealing said spark plug openings.

4. The method of preparing an engine for storage which comprises,sealing the cylinder valve ports, and sealing the cylinder spark plugapertures with desiccating units which support desiccating materialwithin the cylinders in contact with the cylinder included air.

5. The method of preparing an engine for storage which comprises,sealing all openings in the engine crankcase with tight closures,securing a mass 01 desiccating material to the inner surface of at leastone of said closures in contact with the air within said crankcase,sealing the cylinder valve port openings, and sealing the cylinder sparkplug apertures with units which carry desiccating material in saidcylinders in contact with the air therein.

6. The method of preparing for storage an engine having a cylinder,intake and exhaust ports and spark plug apertures in said cylinders, andan air induction system connectedwith said intake ports, comprisingsealing the exhaust ports, inserting a container containing desiccatingmaterial, such as Silica Gel in said induction systern, sealing said airinduction system and thereby the intake ports with the desiccatingmaterial enclosed therein, and inserting a container containingdesiccating material in said cylinder and sealing the spark plugapertures.

7. The method of preparing for storage an engine having a cylinder,intake and exhaust valves and valve seats, valve operating mechanism forlifting said valves from their seats and spark plug apertures openinginto said cylinders which comprises, loosening said valve operatingmechanism to cause all of said valves to seat on their seats, insertinga container, having a desiccating material therein, in said cylinder andsealing said spark plug apertures.

8. The combination with an engine prepared for shipping or storage, saidengine having a crankcase having an aperture in the wall thereof and acylinder having at least one valve port aperture, of closure members foreach of said apertures, said closure members providing tight seals forsaid apertures, at least one of said closure members having a mass ofdesiccating material secured to the inner side thereof.

9. The combination with an engine prepared for shipping or storage, saidengine including a crankcase and cylinders and having apertures forreceiving engineoperating elements, of removable closures for each ofsaid apertures forming tight seals therefor, at least one of saidclosures having at the inner side thereof a mass of desiccating materialfor the removal of moisture from the air in the opening within theengine communicating with said aperture.

10. Means for preserving against corrosion an engine cylinder having atleast one valve port and at least one spark plug aperture comprising, adevice providing a substantially air tight closure for said valve port,and a desiccating unit inserted through said spark plug aperture andassociated in a substantially air tight relation therewith.

ALLAN P. AYERS, JR.

